The location of electron capture heat sources in the crust of accreting neutron stars depends on the masses of extremely neutron-rich nuclei. We present first results from a new implementation of the time-of-flight technique to measure nuclear masses
of rare isotopes at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. The masses of 16 neutron-rich nuclei in the scandium -- nickel range were determined simultaneously, improving the accuracy compared to previous data in 12 cases. The masses of $^{61}${V}, $^{63}${Cr}, $^{66}${Mn}, and $^{74}${Ni} were measured for the first time with mass excesses of $-30.510(890)$ MeV, $-35.280(650)$ MeV, $-36.900(790)$ MeV, and $-49.210(990)$ MeV, respectively. With the measurement of the $^{66}$Mn mass, the locations of the two dominant electron capture heat sources in the outer crust of accreting neutron stars that exhibit superbursts are now experimentally constrained. We find that the location of the $^{66}$Fe$rightarrow^{66}$Mn electron capture transition occurs significantly closer to the surface than previously assumed because our new experimental Q-value is 2.1 MeV (2.6$sigma$) smaller than predicted by the FRDM mass model.
The {beta} decays of very neutron-rich nuclides in the Co-Zn region were studied experimentally at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory using the NSCL {beta}-counting station in conjunction with the neutron detector NERO. We measured the
branchings for {beta}-delayed neutron emission (Pn values) for 74Co (18 +/- 15%) and 75-77Ni (10 +/- 2.8%, 14 +/- 3.6%, and 30 +/- 24%, respectively) for the first time, and remeasured the Pn values of 77-79Cu, 79,81Zn, and 82Ga. For 77-79Cu and for 81Zn we obtain significantly larger Pn values compared to previous work. While the new half-lives for the Ni isotopes from this experiment had been reported before, we present here in addition the first half-life measurements of 75Co (30 +/- 11 ms) and 80Cu (170+110 -50 ms). Our results are compared with theoretical predictions, and their impact on various types of models for the astrophysical rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) is explored. We find that with our new data, the classical r-process model is better able to reproduce the A = 78-80 abundance pattern inferred from the solar abundances. The new data also influence r-process models based on the neutrino-driven high-entropy winds in core collapse supernovae.
